Encroachment
by Anfield
Summary: Adding a new OC to the post-S3 SOA universe. Completely different from my V-centric story lines. This one is about how a real outsider can help the Club and maybe especially "help" Chibs. M for eventual smut.
1. Chapter 1

_**OK, a new story! This takes place in a whole different SOA universe than my V-centric stories, so don't look for her here—none of her storyline happened in this world. The story starts after season 3, and goes off-canon from there. Please please please throw me a review and let me know if you're interested in more of this one!**_

-0-

Normally, Chibs would have complained about having to take such a long ride in the tow truck with Juice. The little fucker talked non-stop. With Juice and the rest of his brothers just out of prison, though, Chibs was happy to do it. It was actually good to hear the kid jabber.

The months when the others had been away had been difficult for Chibs in their own way. At first, it was kind of fun—he was buried in pussy, as the same number of sweetbutts as always hung around, with nobody but him to see to. After a while, though, he had to admit to himself that no matter how many different women he was with, he still saw Fiona everywhere. With Jimmy O. gone, he knew Fi and Kerianne were safe, but that didn't much diminish the ache of their absence. The truth was that his girls were both Irish to their cores, and they belonged where they were. The latest trip back had done nothing but prove to him that he didn't. Even with no more threat to keep him out of Ireland, and them there, they weren't going to be together. He'd thrown himself into the sea of Crow Eaters with all the more gusto after he'd come to that realization, but everything gets old eventually. Just two nights ago, he'd laughingly told his brothers he was going on a diet—no more pussy for a while.

It was odd, then, that the first thing he noticed as he and Juice pulled approached the truck on the side of the road was not the vehicle itself—and it was a beauty, a classic ¾ ton from the early 70s—but the girl. She was leaning against the hood, her face mostly shielded by a crushed straw cowboy hat. She wore beat-up cowboy boots, faded jeans, and a t-shirt. She was smallish, but curvy, and she had a ton of red hair cascading over her shoulders.

"God, I am so glad to see you," the girl said as Chibs and Juice got out of the tow truck. When she looked up and smiled, Chibs saw that she had exactly the face he'd have expected, with wide, clear gray eyes, pale skin, and a sprinkle of freckles across her nose. Her smile was wide and her teeth were perfectly white and straight. She stuck her hand out and shook both his and Juice's hands quickly. "I'm Caroline, and my truck is…" she wrinkled her nose, "fucked?" Her voice had a slight accent, but not one he could place.

"I'm Juice, and this is Chibs." Juice smiled back at Caroline. "What happened?"

She shook her head. "No clue. I just unloaded a couple of horses and I was headed out, and," she made a gesture with her hands indicating an explosion. "I thought I blew a tire, but it's not that. Broken strut, maybe? Back end is dragging." She turned to walk towards the back of the truck and show them.

"Back end looks pretty fuckin' good to me," Chibs muttered, getting an eyeful of how her ass filled out her jeans. If she heard him, she ignored it.

Caroline watched and bit her nails as Juice and Chibs hooked her truck up to the tow. "Somethin' wrong, darlin'?" Chibs asked finally, noticing her discomfort.

"No, I'm sorry." Caroline blushed slightly. "I just…I love this truck. Please don't hurt this truck."

Chibs grinned. She was so earnest. It was adorable. "We'll take good of her, you 'ave my word." He looked at Juice. "Guess I better drive, then."

Caroline gamely climbed into the cab of the tow truck in between Juice and Chibs, then took off her hat and laid it in her lap. The hair was even more impressive than Chibs had originally thought, and he smiled slightly when it fell against his shoulder. "Sorry, sweetheart," he said, letting his hand rest on her leg for only a second as he reached for the gearshift.

Chibs stayed mostly quiet on the drive back to T-M, letting Juice fill the silence by asking Caroline questions. She answered each one politely, but none of it was all that interesting. She was from Montana and was out here delivering some horses to her uncle. The truck had been her father's. She didn't much like rap or metal. She was friendly, but nothing she said had any hint of flirting, though Juice seemed to be trying to lead her in that direction.

Back at Teller-Morrow, Chibs and Juice unloaded Caroline's truck while she headed into the office to fill out the paperwork. The garage was quiet—they'd ended up overstaffed when the Club got out of prison and nobody thought to lay off the mechanics that had been hired to replace them, so they'd stayed ahead of business lately. Jax had his motorcycle on the lift, messing with something, and Tig and Bobby sat on the picnic table, not even pretending to work.

A quick look told the mechanics that there was indeed much more than a blown tire wrong with Caroline's truck. "I'll talk to her," Juice said, already heading toward the office.

Chibs caught him by the back of his mechanic's shirt. "I'll talk to her," he said, smirking.

As Chibs strode towards the office, Bobby raised a lazy eyebrow. "What was that about?"

Juice grinned. "He just about drooled on her the whole way here. Apparently Chibs has a thing for the fire-crotches."

"God, didn't he get enough pussy when we were locked up?" Tig complained. "Some fuckin' diet."

Chibs' conversation with Caroline was unfortunately brief. He explained the work that her truck needed and she nodded, then asked him again, with that same sweet look, to take good care of it. When he asked her if she needed a ride anywhere, she declined politely, saying Gemma had already called her a cab.

After Caroline left, Chibs returned to the garage, where Jax had joined Bobby, Tig, and Juice at the picnic table. All of them seemed to be laughing. "What's so goddamn funny?" he asked.

Jax held up a piece of paper—the work order Gemma's printer had spit out for Caroline's truck. "I think you're out of your league with that one, brother."

"Why's that?"

"Did you happen to get Caroline's last name?"

Chibs looked perplexed. "No. Why?" Jax shoved the paper at him. He read it. "Caroline Oswald. So?"

"Oswald." Jax looked at him. "Like, Elliot Oswald? Like Elliot Oswald's niece, as a matter of fact."

Juice busted up laughing. "How's your luck with bangin' heiresses?"

"Shit." Chibs scowled. That explained Caroline's distant friendliness. She thought she was talking to the goddamn help. And really, she was. He lit a cigarette. "Ah, who needs the rich bitch anyway?" he asked.

-0-

Clay was not happy. He was more than not happy, actually, he was completely pissed off. It was bad enough that there had been nobody to stand in the way of the new "development" in Charming while the Club was put away, but now newly-elected Mayor Hale was behind an even bigger project. This one would wipe out the entirety of the undeveloped stream land on Charming's east side, adding yet more housing and an easier access to the highway. And a fucking mall. It was the mall that really did him in. He scowled around the table. "Any brilliant ideas?"

The faces looking back at him were blank, and similarly displeased. It was more clear than ever that if SAMCRO wanted to keep its place at the top of the Charming food chain, all of this new construction needed to stop. Jax ran his hand over his head. "Hale's already got all the land?" he asked.

"Not all bought yet, but all for sale," Bobby answered. "Nothin' standin' in his way."

"Already tried to convince the sellers they don't want to sell," Chibs said, nodding towards Opie to indicate it was something they'd done together. "It's all fuckin' property companies. Nobody to lean on."

"What about a new buyer?" Jax narrowed his eyes. "If we can't keep it from being sold, can we make sure it gets sold to somebody else?"

Tig shot Jax a disgusted look. "Who do we know got that kind of money? That land's gotta be worth millions."

"And it would have to be somebody who would buy it and not develop it-hardly a profit-making plan," Bobby interjected.

"What about Oswald?" Juice asked. "He's got the cash, and that spread is right next to his place. He probably doesn't want a mall there, either."

Clay looked thoughtful. "Doubt it, but it's worth a try." He nodded towards Tig and Chibs. "Let's take a ride out there, reacquaint ourselves with our old friend Oswald."

Chibs hadn't given more than a passing thought to Caroline since he'd found out who she was. She'd come back to pick up her truck and he hadn't seen her, and that was that. He was surprised, when they pulled their bikes up near Oswald's corral, to lay eyes on her again. She was in the corral with a big bay horse who obviously didn't want to be there. She faced away from them and didn't turn around when they pulled up, but he knew it was her-that red hair was unmistakable. Following his eyes, Clay smiled. "That the niece?"

"Aye." He couldn't help but watch her. She was smaller than he'd though, or just dwarfed by the big horse, but she was steady on her feet and clearly knew what she doing, one hand on the bridle, the other against the horse's neck. Though he was too far away to hear her, he could imagine she was speaking softly to the beast, trying to calm him down. He had to tear his eyes away to follow Tig and Clay towards Oswald.

"New horse trainer?" Clay asked conversationally, nodding towards the corral.

Oswald rolled his eyes. "I guess. My niece. She ran the trainer off yesterday and said she's takin' over before all my horses are ruined." He shook his head and looked towards the corral. "Just as well. Her mother was hoping we could keep her here for a while. Apparently she's..." he drifted off. "Well, let's just say my sister-in-law isn't crazy about her crowd. Caroline has always been...headstrong." He looked at Clay again. "Thanks for taking care of her truck."

"No problem." Clay smiled again. "But that's not why we're here."

"I figured." Oswald nodded. "Hale's development thing?"

"Yeah. Where do you land on having a Wal-Mart next door?" Clay gestured to Oswald's pasture, barn, and riding trails. "Beautiful place you've got here, Elliot. Hate to see it spoiled."

"I'm not happy with it either, Clay," Oswald replied. "But it's out of my hands. The land they're after isn't mine."

"No thought on buyin' it?"

Oswald shook his head in disbelief. "For five million? No." He sighed. "We're just gonna have to live with it. Charming is changing."

"Yeah," Clay looked disgusted. "We noticed."

"Can't stop progress forever, Clay."

"Who the fuck says it's progress?" Clay scowled. He knew, though, that he'd long spent his influence with Oswald. There was nothing he could do to force the man to reconsider, and it was best to stay on his good side. He changed the subject. "Tell me, Elliot," he said with a grin, "how'd a girl that good lookin' come out of your gene pool?" He nodded again towards the corral, where Caroline had succeeded in saddling the bay.

Oswald chuckled. "Looks just like her mother," he said. He shielded his eyes and peered towards Caroline. "Born horsewoman, though. Been like that since she was a little girl."

As they walked back towards the bikes, Clay and Tig chatted with Oswald. Chibs was quiet, his eyes back on Caroline. As the other men stood by the bikes and talked, he moved down the corral fence, closer to where she was mounting the bay. He didn't know a thing about horses, but could recognize competence when he saw it. She swung up gracefully, clearly concentrating on the horse and either not knowing or not caring that she had an audience. The horse was still jumpy, and she was barely in the saddle before he started to buck. Chibs was enthralled as he watched how she handled him, moving easily in the saddle, the reins in her hands. He could hear her now, still speaking softly to the horse. "Calm, baby, it's OK." The accent in her voice was thicker than it had been before. "Hush now, sugar." The bay seemed to calm some and Caroline began to trot him slowly around the corral.

With his full attention on Caroline, Chibs didn't notice Oswald was headed back towards the barn. Clay and Tig were on their bikes, and Tig started his with a loud backfire. As Chibs watched, the bay spooked, bucking hard, and Caroline went flying, landing on her back in the dirt.

Chibs was over the fence and in the corral before he had time to think about it. He could hear Tig laughing, but didn't stop until he was standing over Caroline, reaching down for her. "You OK, darlin'? Anything broken?"

Caroline looked first confused, then just irritated. She didn't reach for his hand, but instead picked herself up, brushing the dust off the ass of her jeans. "I'm fine." She looked inquisitively at Chibs, then beyond him, at Tig and Clay on their bikes. "Is there somethin' I can do for you?"

"No, we're just leavin'," Chibs frowned, wondering if she even recognized him from the garage. "Had some business with Oswald. Just thought you might need some help. Looked like a hard fall."

She smiled then. "Thanks. I don't imagine it's gonna be the last time I get the toss from that one, though." She looked fondly at the horse. "I'll be fine. First thing you learn is how to fall off."

Looking down at her, Chibs saw that she was younger than he'd thought before, probably only a few years into her 20s. _Christ,_ he thought. _A rich girl and a baby. What the hell am I doing? _There was something about those clear eyes, though, and the way she'd moved around the horse, that he couldn't quite walk away from. Besides, after months of easy lays, there was nothing wrong with a little challenge. He nodded in the direction Oswald had made off. "Oswald says you're stickin' around for a while?"

Caroline nodded, her face immediately looking more guarded. "Yeah. Uncle Elliot doesn't know it, but needs some help with these horses." She shook her head. "Trainer he had out here was a goddamn joke." She smiled again then. "Hey, thanks for takin' such good care of my truck. She's perfect again."

Chibs nodded. He didn't like the business-like direction Caroline seemed inclined to steer the conversation towards, but at least she was smiling. The girl had an amazing smile. "You look like you know what you're doin' out here," he said, indicating the corral. "Bet you'll have Oswald's horses in shape in no time."

"I hope so." She kept smiling, but seemed to be backing away. Chibs got the distinct impression he was being dismissed. Her next words made it clear that he was. "Looks like your friends are taking off," she said, nodding towards where Clay and Tig were pulling out.

"S' alright, I know my way back," he replied, grinning. He nodded towards the bay, who was watching them from the other side of the corral. "You ever ride a motorcycle? Gotta be easier than that beast."

"Nope, never been on one." She looked wary again, like she suspected what was coming up next.

"You want to try it out?" Chibs jerked his chin towards where his Dyna was still parked. "Promise not to go too fast."

Caroline shook her head. "I don't think that's a very good idea," she said. "I've got a lot to do here today, and I'm sure you're busy." She smiled again, but the expression seemed less genuine this time, and more polite. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you around. Thanks again for fixing my truck." She didn't wait for a response, but turned and began to walk back towards the horse. Scowling, Chibs got on his bike and rode away.

Back at the Clubhouse, Tig and Clay had filled the rest of the guys in before Chibs even pulled into the lot. "Taking a shot with the rich girl, huh?" Jax asked, grinning. "How'd that go for you?"

Chibs shook his head. "'Fraid this one might take a while, boys." He opened the beer Bobby slid towards him down the bar. Then he grinned. "Easy as it's been lately, though, I could use the practice." There was no use giving them any indication of how lost he suspected this particular cause might be.

"You tell us one more time how much pussy you got while we were in the joint, I'm gonna beat you to death," Tig said, his tone conversational. "Bragging bastard."

"You know," Clay said slowly. "Elliot Oswald may not be any help to us with this thing right now, but he's still a damn good friend to have. I'd hate have that jeopardized by somebody in this Club tryin' to stick his niece. His very young, very innocent niece."

"Wait, I missed this part. Young and innocent?" Jax laughed out loud, smirking at Chibs. "You're a dirty fucking old man."

Chibs didn't reply, just drank his beer. God, it was good to have the boys back.

-0-

Caroline sighed with pleasure as the hot water hit her. It had been a long day, and the damn bay had thrown her twice more before she could get him calmed down. Everything ached, and she smelled terrible.

She wasn't sure about this plan to stay in Charming for a while. She knew her mother had cooked it up with her uncle, and even if she hadn't fired the good-for-nothing trainer, they'd have thought of some other reason for her to stick around. While it would definitely be nice to be away from her mother's prying eyes and incessant nagging, and the horses could certainly use her, she wasn't sure what else she was going to find to do out here. Her cursory look at the town hadn't been promising. It wasn't that Caroline liked the city-as a matter of fact, she hated it-but at least at home in Montana she had people to go out with. Here, she was picturing a lot of boring evenings watching TV with her uncle and aunt. Which was probably exactly what her mother had in mind.

As she lathered the shampoo in her hair, Caroline thought about the bikers who'd visited. What business could they possibly have with her uncle? After seeing the bikes lined up at the garage, she'd asked about the Club, and Elliot had been oddly non-specific, saying only that they had been in Charming for a long time and were nothing to worry about. Her aunt had been less charitable, telling her later that they were, she thought, mixed up in some very bad things and should be avoided.

Thinking of the Scotsman's attempt to get her to ride his bike with him, Caroline felt a wave of something close to excitement run through her. In truth, she hadn't given him a second thought after meeting him when her truck broke down, but he'd seemed different today, his mechanic's shirt replaced by a leather vest. She'd even considered, for the briefest moment, taking him up on the offer. She'd always been curious as to what riding a motorcycle would be like. She was intrigued, too, by his scarred face and heavy accent. There had to be a few good stories there. She shook her head. Crazy thoughts. She could just hear her mother now, on the phone with her aunt. "She went out with WHO?" The thought made her smile. It would certainly make the cowboys she tended towards back home look a bit shinier in her mother's eyes.

By the time she was toweling off, Caroline's thoughts were back on the horses. The two she'd brought out from Montana were in good shape, trained by their trainer at home and ready to run. The four Elliot was already planning to race, however, were all terrible, and his riding horses weren't much better. It was a wonder he hadn't had a serious problem of some sort already, either due to their extremely poor training or their substandard feed. She began to make a list in her head of things she was going to need to get delivered, and to wonder if there was a decent farrier around this town. _Fucking California, _she thought with irritation. _All this damn people and nobody has any idea what the hell they're doing._

It wasn't until Caroline's head hit her pillow that she thought of Chibs again. She never had any trouble sleeping-days spend on horseback left her physically exhausted enough to sleep well, and her mind was generally untroubled. Tonight, though, it took a while for sleep to come. She kept flashing back to the brogue with which he spoke, and the way he'd smiled when he'd seen how fond she was of her truck. Once again, she chided herself for her thoughts. It was absolutely ridiculous for her to even be thinking about this guy. He was a scar-faced biker mechanic, and he had to be 20 years older than she was. Her mother would freak. Elliot would freak. _Still,_ she mused, as she finally drifted off, _it wouldn't hurt to get to know him a little better, would it? _The whole idea of the Club was intriguing, and at least it would give her something to do.


	2. Chapter 2

It took all of Caroline's willpower not to roll her eyes. Her Aunt Karen had been going on about drapery fabric for what had to have been at least twenty minutes. It had taken only a couple of days staying with her uncle's family in his big house for Caroline to realize that wasn't going to work long-term, so she'd moved into the small apartment above the stables vacated by the previous trainer. Unfortunately, since the apartment was now occupied by family instead of staff, Karen was obsessed with redecorating it. The last two weeks had been a parade of fabric, paint, furniture, and accessories.

"So what do you think, then? The blue?" Karen looked at Caroline expectantly.

"Uh, sure, the blue is nice." Caroline glanced at the fabric swatches. In truth, there was little she cared about less than interior decorating. She was happy with the apartment as it was—the only really important part was the lock on the door.

Karen laughed. "Caroline, you aren't paying any attention!"

"Sorry." Caroline forced a smile. "I've never been very good at this kind of stuff. But I'm sure whatever you pick will look great."

Karen shook her head. "You're as bad as Elliot. Pretending to listen to me go on, all the time wondering how soon you can get out there to those damn horses."

She wasn't wrong. Caroline looked slightly shamefaced. She had been thinking about the horses.

"OK, you're excused!" Karen waved her hand towards the door. "Go ahead. My decorator is coming by in a bit anyway—I'll discuss the colors with him."

Grateful, Caroline started to head for the door. She was almost there when Karen called out to her. "Actually, Caroline? Would you mind doing me a favor before you head out to the horses?" She looked at her watch. "I told Elliot I'd go pick up his cleaning, but I'm not gonna get there and back before the decorator gets here. Would you run out and pick it up? Take my car. Don't want to get the shirts dirty in your truck."

Stifling her irritation, Caroline smiled back at her aunt. "Sure." At least it would get her out of looking at paint samples.

Caroline was just pulling out of the dry cleaners, her uncle's shirts safely hung in the back of her aunt's pristine Lexus, when she heard motorcycles coming down the street. It was amazing how loud they seemed in otherwise quiet Charming. She turned her head to look, drawn by the sound, and recognized one rider as Chibs. The other she didn't know, but she noticed he wore white sneakers instead of boots. Watching them, she didn't pay close attention to the space she was backing out of. Suddenly, she heard a crunch.

"Fuck. FUCK!" Caroline didn't even have to get out of the car to know what had happened. While she'd been ogling at Chibs and his friend, she'd over-steered and caught the front corner of the car against a loose shopping cart. Still swearing, she killed the engine and got out to check the damage. Groaning, she realized she was about to have company—Chibs and the other biker had seen the whole thing and were pulling into the lot.

By the time the two bikers had pulled up next to Caroline and cut their engines, she was standing at the front of the car, examining where the shopping cart had broken the left headlight. "Goddammit," she muttered, giving the cart a hard shove.

Chibs laughed as he pulled off his helmet. "Hell on the vehicles, aren't you darlin'?"

Caroline turned her scowl in his direction. "Apparently," she said dryly.

"Maybe you ought to keep your eyes on the road?" Chibs asked, raising an eyebrow above the top of his sunglasses.

Caroline's pale face blushed nearly scarlet. "Yeah," she said, "I guess so."

Chibs' companion got down from his bike, kicking the kickstand into place, and moved towards Caroline He leaned over to examine the broken light. "Looks like it's just the light," he said. "Easy enough to fix." He turned an appraising glance toward Caroline, then stuck his hand out. "I'm Jax."

"Caroline." She shook his hand and returned his smile. He was gorgeous, she noted. He was thinking the same. He could certainly see what Chibs found so compelling about her.

"Take it over to the garage," Chibs said as Jax climbed back on his bike. "Somebody there can fix it for you." He smiled at her again. "I'd go do it myself, but we're kinda in a rush." He put his helmet back on. "Why the hell are you drivin' this cage, anyway? Where's your truck?"

Caroline shook her head. "Good fuckin' question," she muttered.. "I oughtta know better."

Chibs laughed again as he started his bike. "See you soon, sweet Caroline," he said before he took off.

Stopped at a light on the next block, Chibs turned his head towards Jax. "Don't even think about it, brother," he said. "That one is all mine."

Jax laughed. "Don't worry," he said. "I'm playin' things hitched these days. It's all about Tara." He grinned. "If I weren't, though…" He laughed as they took off again.

-0-

As she pulled into the Teller-Morrow lot, Caroline wasn't sure who she was hoping to see, but as soon as she spotted Juice's tattooed head, she felt marginally better. He was wearing one of the leather vests, rather than the mechanic's shirt he'd worn when they met, but he had the same friendly expression. "Hey again," she said, hoping he'd remember who she was. He was somehow more intimidating in his leather, smile or no.

"Hey, Caroline!" Juice smiled. "Good to see you." He glanced towards the car and instantly spotted the busted headlight. "Need to get that light fixed?"

Caroline nodded, glad she wasn't going to have to explain how it had broken. "Yeah, and it's my aunt's car, so if I could get it done before I take it back to her, that would be great."

Juice nodded and looked towards the garage. "I actually have to do something else right now, but let me get somebody to help you."

Juice disappeared into the garage for a minute, then returned with another man. He was tall, well-built, and bald, with dark skin and heavily tattooed arms. Caroline barely heard Juice as he introduced her to the man, who bore the unlikely name of Happy. From the inked-over muscles of his arms to the planes of his unsmiling face, Caroline couldn't stop looking at him. His eyes were so brown they were almost black, and they were completely unabashed in raking up and down her body. She felt naked.

When Happy spoke, it to was to Juice rather than Caroline. "I got this, bro. Go, you got shit to do." The rough growl of his voice sent a chill down Caroline's spine. She forced herself to look down and swallowed, trying to regain her composure. When she looked back up again, Happy was staring at her, smirking slightly. Juice was already headed towards his bike.

Caroline said a silent prayer to keep her shit together and not say anything stupid, then spoke. "Will it take long to fix?"

"Nah," he said. "We got this in stock." He held his hand out. "Give me your keys." Caroline handed him her keys, noticing how oddly small her hand seemed next to his big palm. Without another word, he got in the car and drove it into the garage, leaving Caroline standing there awkwardly, unsure what to do.

As Happy got out of the Lexus, Tig peered out to see Caroline standing on the lot and laughed. "That's the redheaded bitch Chibs is trying to bang. Oswald's niece."

"Is it?" Happy had enough women look at him the way Caroline just had to know exactly what it meant. "Might not be a good day to be Chibs, then. Ten minutes with that girl and she's gonna be beggin' for my cock."

Tig laughed. "Serves the bragging son of a bitch right." He peered out again, noting that Caroline had taken a seat on the curb and was examining her hands. "I got this," he said, nodding towards the broken light. "Go work your magic, Killa'."

Happy was never much on talking to anybody, but he was particularly disinclined to talk much to women. However, for the sake of giving Chibs a hard time, and lack of anything better to do, he sat down next to Caroline and started a conversation. Once he was there, it was easy enough—she chattered nervously and he mostly just nodded and watched her. She was cute. Her jeans and t-shirt didn't show much, but he had a pretty good idea of the body hiding under them. The thing that he kept coming back to, though, was her wide mouth. Her talking focused him on it, and he thought idly about how it would feel wrapped around his dick.

Though Caroline didn't irritate him as much as he'd have expected a chatty woman would, it didn't take too long for Happy to decide she wasn't his type, no matter how appealing he found the idea of her lips on him. There was a sweet politeness about her that seemed extraordinarily out of place on the T-M lot. He had no particular problem with young women, but she seemed so innocent, constantly blushing. More than that, though, he was put off by her lack of acquiescence. She was unfailingly polite, but there was no deference in her tone or manner. It was almost as if she thought she was his equal. _Must be a rich girl thing,_ he thought.

By the time the car was finished, Happy had every intention of waving Caroline off and heading to the Clubhouse for a beer without another thought. Just as she'd started to open the car door, though, he heard Chibs and Jax pull into the lot. No reason to waste the opportunity to bust Chibs' balls, he thought. He moved deftly, making sure Caroline's body was between his and the open car door as Chibs pulled into sight. "This real?" he asked, picking a chunk of her hair from her shoulder and pulling it out as if to examine it. He ran his eyes down her body. " You redheaded everywhere?"'

As he'd known she would, Caroline blushed so red it had to be easy for Chibs to see, even from where he was dismounting his bike. "Yeah," she murmured. "It's natural."

Happy chuckled. _God, this should not be so easy._ "So I guess you'd rather we not mention this busted headlight to your aunt? Or to Oswald?" he asked.

Caroline shook her head, then looked up at him with wide eyes. "If it could be our secret, that would be great."

"I dunno…seems like a pretty good thing to extort you with," he answered, smiling a rare smile. "I'm a bad man, Caroline. Shouldn't be givin' me things to hold over your head." He moved closer as he said it, lowering his voice and leaning down slightly.

Caroline smiled up at him as she responded. "You gonna blackmail me?" she asked. "What are you out to get?" Though her subtleness and politeness was still very much intact, her sparkling eyes made it clear what she was hoping he'd shake her down for.

Happy's previously considered idea of simply picking Caroline up and taking her to the Clubhouse to fuck reentered his mind. Unless he was reading her signals all wrong, she'd be game. She was likely both wild enough to do it, and tamed enough to be so embarrassed about it afterwards that he'd never hear from her again. He could hear Chibs' boots behind him on the lot, though, and decided he'd better stick with his other plan. "Guess we'll see just have to wait and see what comes along," he said. Sure Chibs was watching, he leaned down and kissed Caroline's forehead in an oddly chaste gesture that sent a shiver through her he could feel. "Drive careful." Then he turned and headed towards the Clubhouse, leaving her standing wide-eyed outside the open car door.

Inside the Clubhouse, Happy sat at the bar with Bobby and Tig and waited for Jax and Chibs to come in before he started talking. "Too bad I don't get off on redheads man," he said, noting Tig's smirk at what he knew was to come. "That girl would have been blowin' me in the parking lot if I'd given her half the chance."

Bobby snorted, not yet in on the joke. "And you declined because her hair is red? You gotta be makin' that shit up."

Tig chimed in, eyeing Chibs' scowl. "Nah brother, it's true. Gash had eyes for Hap like he was made of fuckin' candy. Most he would have had to do is ask real nice." He laughed. "Must like 'em bald and mean."

"Of course," Happy continued, "innocent as she seems to be, I'd probably have to give her instructions." He glanced at Chibs. "You got a naughty teacher fantasy, brother?"

"I dunno," Jax broke in, seeing what Happy was up to. "Met Caroline myself earlier and I think you boys might be underestimating her." He shook his head and whistled a low whistle. "Seems to me like a girl who knows what she wants. How soon you figure she'll be back, Hap? You gonna have to fight her off with a goddamn stick?"

"Wait a minute," said Bobby, finally getting it. "This Oswald's niece we're talkin' about?" He looked at Chibs, his eyebrows raised. "Weren't you tryin' to rub up on that?" He faked a look of confusion. "Thought you said it was gonna take some doin'?"

"I hate all you pricks," Chibs said. Then, to Happy, "especially you."

Happy laughed. "Fourteen months away, man. Serves you right if I fuck every woman you look at for the next year." He moved to slap Chibs on the back. "Not gonna do it, though. I meant what I said about redheads. Besides, unless I'm wrong, that's a girl who's gonna end up a lot more trouble than she's worth."

It wasn't until much later that evening that Happy's words came back to Chibs. He'd broken his short-lived fast and availed himself of the only even sort of redheaded sweetbutt he could find, and she was now asleep next to him. He knew some of his brothers tended to kick women out of bed when they were done with them, but he never had the heart. He slept better with a warm body close by anyway. For some reason, though, he wasn't drifting off. He'd thought about Caroline a lot since the day he saw her in the corral. He wasn't stupid—he knew she was exactly the wrong kind of woman to get even a little bit interested in—but that made her all the more difficult to forget. Her strange mix of confidence and innocence was unlike any he'd seen before, and it made him want to scratch the surface and see what was underneath.

After coming back from Ireland, with the taste of his wife still on his lips and his daughter's beautiful face still clear in his mind, Chibs had been unpleasantly shocked by the women in his world. They were hard, with too much makeup and too little clothing, their hair all smelling of cigarette smoke. Fiona was far from innocent, but there was something cultivated about her, something feminine, that he hadn't realized he had been missing until he'd gotten back and been unable to find it. Even the youngest of the Crow Eaters seemed too practiced, too jaded. For every one of them, there was a hard luck story—they'd all been victims, usually of men, and they'd all reacted to it in ways that made things worse more than better. Even Gemma, for whom Chibs held the utmost respect, was beginning to seem brittle and used up. As he'd watched Tara get big with Jax's baby, noticing her occasional giddy excitement about impending motherhood, Chibs understood for the first time what Jax saw in the doctor—she might not be totally pure, but she was a damn sight more so than any of the other women around. Meeting Caroline had struck him as an opportunity to touch something similarly clean, if only for a moment. He wanted that.

-0-

Sex had never held all that much interest for Caroline. Out of a sense of obligation to her Catholic family, as much as anything else, she'd waited until she started college to lose her virginity, and afterwards her first thought was, "was that it?" Since then, she'd had two serious boyfriends, and she'd done what was expected of her in both cases, but it hadn't really been all that exciting. She was very comfortable in the company of men, preferring them to women for the most part, but had never quite figured out how to deal with the advances that her red hair and curvy body seemed to draw from them. She just didn't see why it was such a big deal. After her father died, she thought she might be able to use casual sex to numb the pain, like she'd seen in books and movies, but after a single awkward, painful one night stand with a cowboy, she'd realized that wasn't a workable plan.

Given this lackluster history, Caroline was shocked at the feeling that rose in her belly when she met Happy. Just looking up and down her body, he stirred more inside her than the kisses and caresses of most of the men she'd know could. Despite her efforts to control it, her heart had sped up and she'd almost felt like panting. She'd been turned on before, but never like that. What was even stranger, though, was that she could tell he knew, and rather than being embarrassed by his knowing, she was all the more aroused.

Lying in her bed, listening to the sounds of the sleeping stables below her, Caroline puzzled over her afternoon. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her. First she gawked at Chibs and his attractive friend so hard she ran her aunt's car into a shopping cart, then she did everything but beg Happy to take her in the garage parking lot. Even hours later, remembering the way she'd felt undressed under his dark eyed gaze, her heart jumped. She knew she should be shocked not just at how he'd made her feel, but at her own forward behavior. Instead she was excited. She was already wondering when she might see him again.


	3. Chapter 3

Gemma stepped back and took stock of her work.. The school parking lot looked good, all the booths set up and ready to go. The vendors from the Lion's Club and churches were trickling in, things would get going soon. After missing a year of Taste of Charming on house arrest, and with the excitement that had surrounded the Club's homecoming, Gemma hadn't been sure she'd be able to get it all off the ground this year, but it was coming together nicely.

"Hey, Gemma," Lyla smiled nervously as she approached. All three kids were with her, each carrying a cooler or box. "Where do you want this stuff?" Lyla had seemed calmer since the wedding, slightly more sure of herself every day. It was good to see. Porn star or not, Gemma like her. She was good for Opie.

After she helped the kids put away the things they were carrying, Gemma stood back up and scanned the street. "You been by the Clubhouse?" she asked Lyla. "I oughtta have manpower here by now. Not to mention Elvis. And fireworks for later."

"They're on their way," Lyla assured her. "Ope was getting the pyro stuff together when I left." She spoke carefully, as she always did around Gemma, who still intimidated her.

Looking at Lyla, Gemma was struck suddenly with missing LuAnn. The last time she'd been in this booth, it was LuAnn's blond head and completely inappropriate outfit next to her. Amazing how fast it had all changed. Irritated with herself, Gemma shook her head. No use in thinking about all that now, there was shit to do.

"Hi, Gemma." Gemma turned to see the snotty face of Karen Oswald. She'd never liked the uptight bitch, but understood the necessity of being at least somewhat pleasant to her, so she smiled. Seeing another woman with Karen, though, Gemma narrowed her eyes slightly. Had to be the niece everybody had been harassing Chibs about. As if to answer the question, Karen continued, "this is my niece, Caroline."

The girl was cute, Gemma thought as she stuck out her hand. She was small, but seemed solid, not one of those skinny little bitches. The red hair was kind of a nightmare, but her face was nice and even under her boring clothes you could see she had a good shape. She seemed awful young, though. "Nice to meet you," Gemma said. "Elliott said you might be willing to take some kids around on a pony for me?"

Caroline smiled, and immediately Gemma saw the rest of what Chibs was seeing in her. She had one of those smiles that lit everything up. "I'd love to," she said. Her accent wasn't thick, but you could tell she wasn't from Charming. "Don't have a pony, but I brought the tamest quarter horse in the world. He won't buck anybody off."

"Great." Hearing the bikes on the street, Gemma nodded towards them. "You need help getting your shit unloaded? My muscle is just pullin' up."

Feeling the way the collection of Harleys made the blacktop rumble slightly under her feet, a little chill ran down Caroline's spine. It had occurred to her that some of the guys in the motorcycle club—she now knew they were called the Sons of Anarchy—might be here today, but she hadn't expected to see so many of them, or so soon. "That would be great," she said, smiling that thousand watt smile again.

Gemma didn't miss the flash of excitement in Caroline's eyes when the guys rode up. She'd seen it in too many girls before not to recognized it—hell, she'd seen it in herself once a upon a time. There was something about them, in their cuts, on their bikes, that made your blood run hot. She smiled slyly. "I think you've met some of the boys?" she asked.

Caroline blushed slightly, and it was clear to Gemma she'd rather not discuss meeting them in front of her aunt. "Uh, yeah," she stuttered. "Y'all fixed my truck."

Gemma let the uncomfortable silence sit for a minute, watching Caroline's pretty flushed face. _Jesus Christ,_ she thought. _What the hell is Chibs thinking? She's an innocent. He could be this one's daddy._

Seemingly unaware of her niece's discomfort, or of Gemma's enjoyment of it, Karen began prattling on about the school charities Gemma was fundraising for this year. By the time she stopped for breath, most of the Sons were approaching. "About damn time," Gemma grumbled. "Juice, you help get Caroline unloaded. Bobby, you're gonna be two booths down. The rest of you, there are a ton of bleachers that need to be moved out by the bandshell." She appraised the group. Jax, Bobby, Tig, Juice, Chibs. Opie would have to come in his truck with all the gear for the fireworks. "Where the fuck is Happy?" She scowled.

"On his way, Mom," Jax assured her. Then he turned towards Caroline. "Good to see you again, darlin'," he said smoothly, then, nodding at Karen, "you too, Mrs. Oswald."

Though the men's sunglasses kept her from being sure, Caroline had the feeling she was being assessed. They all seemed to be smirking in her direction. "So," the heavier man with the longer beard said, his smirk turning to a grin, "you're the famous Caroline." He stuck out his hand, introducing himself as Bobby, and the other one she didn't recognize, with the big nose, as Tig. "And I think you know Juicy and Chibs," he said.

"Yes." Caroline smiled at Chibs, unsure why she was blushing, but feeling the color in her face. _Famous? For what?_

"Me and Caroline are old friends," Chibs said, smiling back at her. Since having his balls so thoroughly busted, he'd been attempting to keep his mind off sweet Caroline, but he'd suspected she would be here today. Certainly made this civic responsibility bullshit a little easier to swallow.

"Gemma?" Opie's daughter Ellie appeared next to Gemma, but she was looking at Caroline. "Did you say this lady has a horse?"

"Yeah, I do," Caroline said, smiling widely at Ellie. "You like horses?"

Ellie nodded. "Can I ride it?"

"Sure. Just let me get him out of the trailer." She turned to Juice. "Appreciate the help, I have a lot of tack to haul."

Juice's dark face had gone pale. "You...brought a horse? That's what you need help unloading?" 

Caroline looked puzzled. "Yeah...I'm gonna give some of the kids pony rides. What's wrong?"

Chibs laughed, clapping Juice on the back. "You scared of ponies, brother?"

Juice looked indignant. "Not scared. Just...don't like."

Caroline bit back her smile. "That's OK," she said. "I'll protect you from the big, bad horse. You can just carry the saddle. Promise." Her eyes were dancing, clearly amused.

_Fuck,_ Chibs thought as she walked away, _she's beautiful. I am so gone. _

Once they'd filled all of Gemma's moving and carrying requests, the Sons re-congregated at a picnic table, each weighed down with a paper plate of food. Whether by intent or coincidence, the table's location provided an excellent view of the field where Caroline was several kids deep. After each turn on the horse, Ellie simply got back in line and waited patiently to ride again.

The group was just getting situated when Happy and Opie approached, both of them also carrying plates. "Man, we do all the work, and you bastards get to eat too?" Juice asked, laughing.

Opie's brow furrowed as he looked towards the field, where Caroline was helping Ellie up into the saddle for the fourth time. "Who is that?" he asked, nodding towards them. He smiled slightly. "Ellie's always wanted to ride a horse."

Happy glanced at Chibs and grinned. "That's the redheaded pussy Chibs is after, man." Watching her, he wondered if he'd written her off too quickly when he'd met her at the garage. The way she moved around the horse was oddly appealing.

Opie continued to watch Ellie and Caroline and his face darkened. It may just have been Caroline's small size, or her casual, almost conservative jeans and t-shirt, but something about her reminded him of Donna. Seeing his daughter with her, clearly thrilled, sent a visceral stab of pain through him. He forced himself to swallow it, pushing it far back in his mind. That was all in the past now. Best to forget it. "That's the niece, huh?" he asked, remembering hearing his brothers razz Chibs about her. He looked at Chibs. "Hadn't figured you cowgirls, brother."

Chibs merely smiled and shook his head. Every time he saw Caroline, he was more sure that he didn't give a damn how much shit he had to take off his brothers, he was going to pursue her. A taste of something as sweet as she'd be was just what his tired palette needed.

"Man, she's a strange chick," Juice said. "Asks a lot of questions."

Tig's face instantly changed from amused to concerned. "What kind of questions? We don't know who this bitch is. She shouldn't be askin' any fuckin' questions."

"No, no," Juice said, "not like intel. Just like…she's curious?"

Happy's scowl mirrored Tig's. Though he hadn't gotten that sort of vibe of Caroline at all, he definitely did not like the idea of some gash nosing around the Club. "What, specifically, did she want to know?" he asked. He glanced at Jax, who was clearly paying attention now, though he didn't seem overly worried.

Juice shook his head. "Nothin' serious! She wanted to know everybody's names, who was married, who had kids, that kind of shit. Nothin' about business."

Jax smiled. "Wanted to know who was married, huh? What'd you tell her?"

"That Ope just got married. That you have an Old Lady." Juice shrugged.

"Still don't like bitches askin' questions," Tig said. "Never know who the fuckin' Feds are trying to plant."

"You're paranoid, brother," Chibs said. "She's Oswald's niece. Don't you think he'd notice if they planted her?"

Jax laughed. "I don't think she was diggin' for Club dirt. Sounds to me like she was askin' which dicks were free." He shook his head. "I'm bettin' we start seeing more of little Caroline."

As the afternoon turned to evening, Gemma started to relax. Looking around, she could pick her family out, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Jax and Tara had both boys on the playground, Abel running around with Jax, Thomas on Tara's lap on a bench. Opie and Lyla were feeding their crew at a picnic table. In his booth, Bobby was serenading a bunch of kids, Juice and Chibs looking on and laughing. God knew where Tig was, but it was best not to wonder too much about that. It was good to see them like this, able to chill for a minute. Didn't happen as often as it used to, or as often as it should. She silently thanked Clay for not calling any of them in today.

"Hey, Hap," Gemma called Happy over as he was walking past. "Do me a favor?" Gemma didn't know Happy quite so well as she did the boys who had been with SAMCRO for years, but she liked him-he got business done and didn't cause any trouble.

"Sure." Happy stopped and leaned in to hear Gemma.

Gemma jerked her head towards the field where Caroline was still giving horse rides. "Go tell that girl she can quit. She's been at it six hours, gotta be exhausted. Band are gonna start soon anyway. Probably could use a hand getting her stuff back in her truck." She smirked. "Unless you're afraid of horses, too."

Happy gave Gemma a withering look and didn't answer, just headed towards the field. If Gemma wanted to put him that Caroline's path again, who was he to argue? He watched her as he sauntered towards the field. The last of the kids were walking away, which didn't bother him any. Kids kind of freaked him out.

He nodded a greeting to her when she turned to see who was coming, and, unsurprisingly, her face flushed a bit. "Hey," she said. "Good to see you again." Then she smiled. "Come for a ride?"

Happy smirked and stared at her without answering. Realizing what she'd said, Caroline's slight flush turned into a bright pink blush. Finally, Hap raised an eyebrow and spoke. "I got no interest in ridin' that horse." He left the question of whether he had any other interest open. "Gemma said you can go now. Band is about to start. Want some help loadin' up your shit?"

"Uh, sure, that would be great." Caroline regained control of herself. "Let me just get his saddle off."

Happy watched in silence as Caroline gathered her things up and unsaddled the horse. She was more at ease here, in her own sort of environment, than she'd been at the garage, and it suited her. Her jeans today, too, were a bit more fitted, her rack accentuated by a tank top rather than the t-shirt he'd seen her in before. Happy wasn't sure if it was her, exactly, or an effect of the unaccustomed mellow joy of the day, but watching her, the idea of having a go with her was nothing less than extremely appealing. By the time they took off towards her truck, he was having an internal argument about whether getting with her would really be a problem for Chibs.

As she walked next to Happy, the quarter horse's bridle in her hand, Caroline felt her heart pound and her mind spin. She'd thought about Happy a lot since she met him at the garage, bringing herself off with him behind her closed eyes more than once. She hadn't give much thought to actually pursuing him—that wasn't something she really knew how to do—but she'd certainly thought about where a pursuit might lead. And now, with him standing close to her again, barely able to smell his leather, she wasn't sure she was going to be able to stop herself from trying.

Happy waited while Caroline loaded the horse into the trailer. "This your truck?" he asked after she closed the gate. "Little bit different than the Lexus."

Caroline smiled. "Yeah, this is more my style." Feeling bold, she moved towards him, brushing against him, rather than walking around, to open the door of the cab. He didn't move to let her pass. Once she'd opened the door, he moved in, keeping the distance between them small.

"Takin' off before the band?" he asked. "You got somewhere to be?"

In truth, Caroline had exactly nowhere to be, other than curled up reading in her little apartment or brushing one of the horses. Her evening, like all of her evenings, was completely open. She shrugged. "I'm in no hurry. Are they any good?"

Happy snorted. "Doubt it." Suddenly, remembering the conversation earlier, he narrowed his eyes. "Hey, Juice said you were askin' questions. Somethin' you need to know about Sam Crow?" He grabbed her wrist where it was still on the cab door. "We don't much like nosy bitches."

Caroline was startled, as it seemed his whole face changed in a split second. The expression he wore now made gave her a whole different kind of chill. It was scary and she didn't like it, or his hand on her wrist. "I, uh, was just tryin' to be friendly," she said. "You know, sort out who was who." Her eyes darted around, looking for anybody else near them. There was nobody around.

Happy knew exactly when Caroline started fearing him. He could see it on her as clearly as if she'd written it across her forehead. If it hadn't been for that, he may have been able to walk away and leave her be, if only because he knew Chibs wanted her. Her fear, though, and her immediate, instinctual response, her eyes looking for an escape, aroused him as much as anything else about her had. He grinned. "Knee to the groin would be your best bet," he said. "But don't do it—it won't work." Then, almost as an afterthought, "and I'm not going to hurt you."

She said nothing for a moment, willing her heart to stop beating so fast. "I really wasn't tryin' to be nosy," she said. "Just curious."

"What is it you were curious about?" he asked, realizing now that Jax had likely been right. This girl wasn't some kind of spy—she was doing recon on her prospects to get laid. He didn't remove his hand from her wrist.

Caroline swallowed. She knew this was her cue. The way he was looking at her wasn't angry or suspicious anymore, but it was predatory. "You," she said, her voice small.

Happy smiled. "Yeah?" He could see she was almost trembling, and though he knew he could move in on her now and he'd meet no resistance, it was more fun to watch and see how she'd react. He reached his other arm out to lean on the cab, effectively trapping her between his body and the truck. His voice was low and raspy. "What'd you want to know?"

Caroline reached out as if not quite in control of her own hand, then realized what she was doing and dropped it. "I asked Juice…if you had a girl," she said, figuring it didn't matter now, he clearly already knew.

"And if I had?"

"Then I wouldn't still be standin' here." She felt suddenly brave. "I'm not interested in other women's men." She smiled. "But you don't."

Again, Happy was struck with liking her. It had been quite some time since he'd met a woman who had given a flying fuck whether or not he had an Old Lady. In a different mood, it would have struck him as ridiculous and naïve, but today it seemed adorably moral, as if Caroline was a girl with some convictions. "No," he said, "I don't." He cocked his head to one side as if considering her. "What about you? You got a cowboy at home?"

Caroline shook her head. This time, when she reached out towards him, he caught her hand in his and pulled her in, roughly, quickly. With her pressed against him he felt how small she was, her head only in the middle of his chest. Grinning, he reached down and picked her up, placing her easily on the edge of the truck's front seat. "That's better," he growled. When he kissed her, it was not an exploration, but a confrontation. His lips crashed into hers, his tongue demanding she part them. Though she was startled by the ferocity of it, she complied instantly, letting him lead.

The kiss lasted a long time. Caroline wound her arms around Happy's neck, pulling him closer in to her. He held her face in his hands for a moment, then ran them down her sides, causing her to shiver under his fingers. When he reached his hands under the hem of her shirt, running them up her ribs to her bra, she could first think only of the feeling of his calloused fingertips, the trail of heat them seemed to leave on her flesh. He rubbed circles over her nipples through her bra, and she arched her back into his hands. Only when he started to try to pull her shirt over her head did she come back to her senses, realizing who she was, who she was, and where they were. She pulled away from him, breathless. "We can't do this here!"

Happy looked around. It was nearly dark now, and there wasn't anybody else in sight. "Don't see why not."

Caroline giggled. "Somebody could see!"

Happy looked at her with amusement. Was she for real? Worried about somebody seeing him groping her in an empty parking lot? "Then get in," he said, nodding towards the cab of the truck. It had been a few years since he'd fucked in a vehicle, but he was pretty sure he could remember how.

In the time it took for them to have the exchange, Caroline realized what was happening, and what was intended to happen if she climbed into the cab of the truck, which she'd had every intention of doing when he mentioned it. Her heart was still pounding. She wanted nothing more than to lie back and let him climb in on top of her. She knew what that would mean, though, and could hardly consider actually doing it. "I don't think that's a good idea," she said.

Happy's face was momentarily confused. Was she really that worried about privacy? He could take her to the Clubhouse, but what about the horse, who he could hear in the trailer? "I am not going to sleep with someone I just met," she continued.

Happy laughed. "Who asked you to sleep? I was just going to fuck you." Though he still found her reticence amusing, he was beginning to find it irritating, as well. Why the hell was she out here with him, then? He knew she wanted it—he could see and feel it all over her.

Caroline's mouth opened in shock. Had he really thought she was going to have sex with him in the cab of her truck in a public parking lot? With kids around, for God's sake? Who the hell was this guy?

Seeing Caroline's shocked face, Happy snorted. "What the fuck did you think we were out here for?"

Caroline felt herself grow cold again. "I…I don't know." _Christ,_ she thought, _what did I get myself into?_ She still saw no way to get away from him if he decided he didn't want her to. "I'm sorry."

Seeing the fear in her face and knowing what she was worried about, Happy scowled and stepped back. "I'm not gonna fucking rape you. But are you really this goddamn stupid? Leanin' on me, did you think I'd what…just wanna make-out?" He sneered.

Caroline didn't know what to say. She felt tears of humiliation begin to well up in her eyes. He was right—she had been stupid. She ought to have taken one look at him and known exactly what he wanted. And, not being willing to give it, she never should have started flirting. "I'm sorry," she repeated, her voice breaking as she did and tears beginning to fall.

"Oh for Christ's sake, don't cry." Happy was even more irritated now. This was absolutely not the end to his day he'd had planned. He shook his head. "I should have known better. You're a fucking kid. Go home, Caroline." He didn't even look at her again, just turned and strode away.

Happy was barely to the edge of the parking lot when he ran into Chibs. Noticing his brother's scowl, Chibs stopped. "Everything OK?"

Happy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, stupid shit." He jerked his head back towards where Caroline's truck was parked. "If you wanna get some nice guy points, now's the time. Go give her a shoulder to fuckin' cry on. I wouldn't bother, though."

Before Chibs could ask for clarification, Happy kept walking, headed back towards his bike. His brow furrowed in confusion, Chibs headed towards Caroline.


	4. Chapter 4

_So this is a bit of a filler chapter, but bear with me. I do have a direction for this story to go, it's just not quite all here yet. Feedback at this stage would be really appreciated!_

-0-

"Shit, are you OK sweetheart?" As Chibs approached Caroline's truck, he saw her sitting the edge of the front seat, the driver side door open, her head in her hands. Something was clearly wrong.

Caroline looked up quickly. In the dim light, Chibs could see the tear tracks on her face. She wiped at her eyes angrily with the back of her hand. "I'm fine," she said, swinging her legs in and reaching for the door handle. "I gotta go."

Chibs stepped forward quickly, blocking her from closing the door. He peered in at her. "You don't look fine. What happened?" Chibs' loyalty to his brother wouldn't let him think for a moment that Happy had actually hurt her, but clearly he'd upset her plenty. "Did Hap say somethin'?"

Caroline sighed. "No. It was my own fault."

"What was your own fault?"

Caroline shook her head. "Nothing. Forget it. I'm sure he can tell you all about it—you can all have a nice fuckin' laugh."

Watching her face as she said it, Chibs realized that her tears weren't the product of sadness, or even anger, but humiliation. "Hey," he said, reaching out towards her and pushing a stray stand of hair out of her face, "nobody's laughin' at you. What the hell happened with Hap?"

Caroline looked at him fully for the first time since he'd walked up. His face, despite the scary scars, seemed oddly kind. "It doesn't matter," she said, "I just…misunderstood. It's no big deal."

Chibs raised his eyebrows. "Then why are you cryin'?"

She shrugged. "Just feel stupid for not knowing what he wanted." She forced a smile. "Now y'all are gonna think I'm some kind of dumb kid."

It didn't take a genius to guess what had happened between Caroline and Happy, but Chibs thought it best to make sure his assumption was correct. "Hap tried to rub up on you and you turned 'im down? Don't see how that makes you dumb." He laughed. "Rejection'll be good for his ego." Internally, Chibs was more irritated than amused. He knew he had no claim on Caroline, but would it have killed Hap to steer clear of her? Caroline still looked unsure, and like she might push his ass out of the way and bolt at any minute, so Chibs continued. "Nobody'll think any less of you for it," he said, smiling. "I like you even more now!"

Caroline managed a weak smile in return. "He seemed awful pissed," she said.

Chibs laughed. "I bet. We're…not so used to bein' told no. Don't worry about it. He'll calm down as soon as the blue balls wear off."

Caroline looked curious. "You guys run things here, huh?" She reached out and lightly tapped the "Redwood Original" patch on his cut. "You just wear these vests and everybody does what you say?"

Chibs considered the question. "Sometimes," he said. "Not everybody, but yeah, we got some pull. Been around Charming a long time. Guess you could say we're kind of…an institution." He smiled again. "And it's not a vest, it's a cut." As he said it, he realized that he loved that she didn't already know. Her naïveté was strangely sexy.

Caroline sighed. "So not only have I pissed Happy off, but I've managed to alienate a Charming institution? Great. Somebody could have clued me in on who I'm supposed to give it up for around here."

Chibs chuckled. "Nobody's gonna be pissed," he said. "It ain't like that." She was quiet then, and he tried to read her face, but couldn't figure it out. Feeling uncomfortable in the silence, he continued. "What do you care, anyway? Girl like you, hardly have to impress a bunch of bikers, right?"

Caroline tilted her head to the side questioningly. "What do you mean, a girl like me? I'm stuck in this town for at least the summer, and you all are the only people I've met since I got here. I could do worse than impressing you." She thought, as she spoke, of how friendly they had all looked eating together—closest thing she'd seen to the way the ranch hands back home behaved since she'd been here. She didn't want to admit it, but she was lonely. She missed being part of something like that.

Listening to Caroline, Chibs realized that she had no idea what Sons of Anarchy really was. He could tell her they were nothing but mechanics and motorcycle enthusiasts, and she'd buy it without question. The thought was exhilarating. Caroline had no concept of the power SOA held, in Charming or anywhere else, or how they really paid their bills. Apparently, her uncle hadn't seen fit to share, and it wouldn't occur to her to ask. He was emboldened by the thought. "What I mean," he said slowly, "is a young, rich," he looked her right in the eye, "_hot_ girl like you."

As expected, Caroline blushed deeply. Underneath her embarrassment, though, he could see a little concern, and he guessed what she was thinking. "Don't worry, sweet Caroline," he murmured, his voice intentionally low, leaning slightly towards her, "nobody else is gonna try to get in your pants tonight. Promise."

Caroline stuttered her response. "Uh…OK. You know, I really probably should go." She had no idea how to react to Chibs' words, or to the way he was looking at her. The evening had been weird enough already.

"Why? This beast can hang out in there for a while, right?" Chibs nodded towards the horse trailer. "Come out and watch the fireworks with us. Meet a few more people. Jax's Old Lady, Tara, you'd probably like to meet her."

"Oh, I don't think…" Caroline began to decline, but Chibs cut her off.

"Come on, you said you don't know anybody here, so fix that. What the hell else you gonna do tonight?"

He had a point there, Caroline thought. As awkward as taking in a fireworks show with the motley collection of bikers she'd seen earlier might be, it wasn't like she had a competing offer. Seeing she was thinking about it, Chibs continued. "Besides, you show up, act like nothin' happened, that lets Hap know he didn't get to you." Chibs knew it was bullshit, but thought it might help to convince her to stay, and he really didn't want to see her leave yet.

"Well…" Caroline knew she should just go back to her little stable apartment, but she really didn't want to. "Promise you won't abandon me in the middle of a crowd of bikers?"

Chibs grinned. _Not bloody likely._ "Won't stray more than six inches from your side," he said. "Promise."

By the time she and Chibs were approaching the congregated Sons and associated hangers-on who had commandeered the same picnic table as earlier, along with all the surrounding area, Caroline was already doubting the wisdom of her decision. They were definitely more intimidating en masse, and they all seemed to be there-all the men in their leather cuts, and a few women and kids as well. Caroline recognized Gemma from earlier, and the thin blonde woman who had been with her.

"Opie," Chibs clapped a tall man with a bushy red beard on the back. "This is Caroline."

"Hi," Caroline stuck out her hand, her deeply-ingrained friendliness winning out, for the present, over her nerves. "It's nice to meet you."

Opie smiled, showing a hint of gold teeth. "You're the horse girl! I gotta thank you. Ellie has been wanting to ride a horse since she first saw one."

Caroline's polite smile dropped instantly, replaced by her real, megawatt grin. "Ellie is your little girl? She's absolutely wonderful. I had a great time with her today."

The tiny blonde woman next to Opie spoke. "She did, too. She hasn't stopped talkin' about you." She extended her hand. "I'm Lyla."

Caroline shook her hand. "She wanted to go faster. Can't do that here, or with this horse, but you should bring her up to Uncle Elliot's some time, and I'll take her out."

"You'd do that?" Lyla seemed shocked.

"Sure, why not?" Caroline shrugged. "She'd enjoy it, and I'm exercising horses anyway. Would have liked to at least get her to a canter today, but my old boy just can't take it anymore."

"That was your horse?" Standing nearby, Juice still looked wary of the whole horse concept.

Caroline smiled fondly. "Yeah. My first horse, actually. I was way younger than Ellie when I got him. We ride before we can walk where I'm from."

Over Caroline's head, Chibs and Opie exchanged a look. It was amused on Ope's end, horrified on Chibs'. "So…he's a pretty old horse then, huh?" Juice asked, looking at Chibs with a smile in his eyes as well.

Caroline looked to be counting in her head for a moment. "He's getting up there. He was five or six when I got him, I guess. So he's…over twenty, anyway." If she was at all aware of the significance of her words to the men, she didn't let on.

Standing within earshot, Tig decided to go for the kill. "And that makes you," he raised an eyebrow, "barely legal?"

"Leave 'er alone." Seeing the distress begin to creep into Caroline's face, Chibs moved a bit closer to her.

"It's OK," Caroline said, drawing herself up to her full height, though there wasn't much of it. She looked straight at Tig and smiled. "I'm quite legal, thanks. Just not particularly interested."

"Oh, harsh, bro" Opie laughed. If Caroline hadn't already endeared herself to him by making Ellie smile, she'd have done it by having the nerve to stand up to Tig.

Tig snorted. "Hey Hap," he called to Happy, who was standing at the other end of the table, talking to Bobby. "This bitch have anything to get uppity with me about? She looks awful green to me."

Happy looked up and met Caroline's gaze. He could see her preparing herself for humiliation, that big smile turning into a hard line. There was no point in that. He raised his eyebrows. "Wouldn't know, but she looks pretty good to me," he said. "Maybe she just doesn't like you." Then he returned to Bobby.

Listening to the laughter coming at Tig's expense, rather than at her own, Caroline felt herself begin to relax. Maybe this was going to be OK after all.

As the evening wore on, Caroline grew more comfortable. Though they looked intimidating, most of the Sons were pretty friendly, and Chibs' word was good—he never left her side. By the time the fireworks show began, Caroline was sitting on a table top next to Chibs, a beer bottle between her legs, enjoying herself for the first time in ages.

In the light Opie's explosions made over their heads, Chibs observed Caroline. She wasn't paying any attention to him, her eyes turned upwards towards the show. _She's too young,_ he thought, noting the smoothness of her skin, the complete lack of any makeup he could see. She was so small, too, making her appear only younger. Her hand, wrapped loosely around the neck of the bottle, was almost doll-like, but capable looking, the nails cut short and unpainted. Only the outline of her chest, covered mostly by her mane of tangled red hair, gave evidence for her being a full grown woman. _Jesus, _he groaned inwardly, _what the hell am I thinkin'? Gawkin' at a goddamn teenager._ But he didn't turn his eyes away.

After the show was over, Caroline rose as if to leave, but stayed for a few minutes, chatting with Chibs. She was easy to talk to, and he'd always had a knack for making conversation with women. Her back towards the dispersing crowd, he saw her aunt and uncle approach before she did.

"Caroline," Karen Oswald's voice was tight, her displeasure obvious. "I thought you'd gone home."

Caroline turned. "Headed out now, actually," she said.

"Didn't realize you knew Sam Crow." Elliot's voice was friendlier than Karen's, but it, too, sounded displeased.

"Well," Caroline said, smiling at her uncle in a way Chibs thought she must know was disarming, "I met Chibs and Juice when they rescued me after my truck broke down, and Chibs was sweet enough to introduce me to everybody else."

Elliot's eyes moved from Caroline to Chibs. "Nice of you to be so friendly to my niece," he said, his voice making it clear now that he didn't think it was all that nice at all.

Chibs grinned. He knew Elliot was a friend to the Club, so he had to tread lightly, but he'd never liked the rich bastard all that much. "My pleasure," he said. "Hate to see a girl so pretty sit by herself." He grinned even wider when he saw how his words twisted Karen's mouth.

"Shit." A few feet away, Jax nudged Tara, who was cradling a sleeping Thomas while Jax carried an also sleeping Abel. "That look good to you?"

Tara glanced over and grimaced. "Doubt it," she said. "Can't imagine the Oswalds are keen on their niece's choice in company."

"Christ," Jax sighed. "Hang on, lemme check it out." Still carrying Abel, he sauntered towards the group. "Hey," he said, nodding towards Elliot. "Hello again, Mrs. Oswald."

"Jax," Elliot smiled, glancing towards Abel. "Your boy has gotten big."

"Yeah, he changed a lot while we were away." He jerked his head towards Caroline. "Your niece here was every kid's hero today. Opie's little girl can't stop talking about Caroline and her horse."

Caroline smiled, her eyes seeking out Jax's and silently thanking him for the rescue. "It was really no big deal," she said. "It was fun."

Looking uncomfortable, as if bugs might be biting her, Karen Oswald grabbed her husband's elbow. "We should really be going," she said. Then, to Caroline, "you're going now too, right? Shouldn't leave that horse in the trailer for too long."

Caroline barely kept from rolling her eyes, but forced a smile. "I'll be right behind you," she said.

Elliot nodded his goodbyes to Jax and Chibs as Karen all-but dragged him off. With the Oswalds barely out of ear-shot, Chibs began to laugh. "Darlin'," he said, "I don't think they want you to miss curfew."

Caroline shook her head. "I know I ought to be grateful that they worry about me, but I'm not their goddamn kid." Her face darkened temporarily, making it clear she knew why the Oswalds were so over-protective. "Anyway," she smiled again, "thanks, Jax. I think the third degree was on its way."

"No problem." Jax winked at her before he strolled back to where Tara was waiting.

"Thanks to you, too," Caroline said, looking at Chibs. "You rescued my night. This was fun."

"Anytime," he answered, struck again by how very sweet she was with that big smile. "Sorry if I got ya into trouble with Mom and Dad Oswald."

Now Caroline did roll her eyes. "They have to learn to give me a little bit of space," she said. "This was probably good for them—show them I'm not doing anything wrong." She didn't say it, but Chibs knew she was picturing what would have happened if they'd come upon her earlier, with Happy. She looked around, gesturing at Jax and Tara with the boys and Opie and Lyla with their kids. "This is a pretty family friendly scene."

Unable to help himself, Chibs raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't have to be," he said, running his eyes down her body.

Caroline shook her head, but she was smiling. "I distinctly remember a promise not to try to get in my pants."

"Fair enough." Feeling himself smile, Chibs wondered for a moment if this girl had some sort of superpower—she'd drawn so many smiles from him his cheeks were going to ache. "Gotta give you a warnin', though—I only promised not to try to get in your pants _tonight._ Not forever."

Caroline met his eyes, and he saw she was unsure, but not wholly unconvinced. "I'll remember that," she said softly. Then she stood on reached her head up, standing almost on tiptoe, and kissed his cheek. It was over in an instant, just the soft pressure of her lips and the sun and hay smell of her hair, and then done. "Goodnight.


	5. Chapter 5

"Goddammit," Happy groaned as he opened his eyes and the dream disappeared. It was the second one in the week since the Taste of Charming and his odd make-out session with Caroline. The redheaded bitch never crossed his mind when he was awake, but apparently his subconscious was stuck on her. The first dream had been vague, full of lazy, floating images of her tight body, her laughing mouth, and that crazy mane of hair. This one was much more direct, and so realistic he could almost feel her skin under his hands when he awoke. He glanced down and saw that the hard cock her dream mouth had been wrapped around was definitely real. He rolled his eyes, embarrassed at himself. When the fuck had he started having sex dreams about rich, uptight cowgirls?

Happy rolled over and found the sweetbutt he'd fallen asleep next to still there. He used to be better about kicking them out when he was finished, but lately he didn't much care one way or the other. This one was going to come in handy. He nudged her shoulder roughly. "Hey, wake up."

The woman sat up, startled. She was raccoon-eyed, smeared makeup stretching from her eyebrows to her cheekbones. "Sorry," she mumbled, "didn't mean to fall asleep." She moved towards the edge of the bed, looking almost frightened.

"S'OK," Happy said, reaching for her arm. "C'mere." It didn't take much more than a nudge for her to figure out what he wanted, and a moment later she was closing her lips around him. He leaned back and closed his eyes, letting his mind fill again with Caroline's curvy body and wide mouth. He had no idea why she was still in his head, but she might as well do some good while she was there.

-0-

"Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It's been three weeks since my last confession. I have been frustrated with and short to my mother on the phone. I didn't go to Mass last week or the week before." Caroline knelt in the confessional, amused to find that her aunt and uncle's church in Charming, just like her parents' in Montana, still did things old style. She smoothed her skirt over her knees before continuing. "I ask forgiveness for my bad attitude, for using foul language, and," she thought of the feeling of Happy's hands and lips on her in the parking lot, and of how many times she'd replayed that feeling in her head in the week since, "for having…impure thoughts."

In truth, it was her "thoughts" after her first meeting with Happy that had helped to convince Caroline to put off confession last week. Though she'd confessed both impure thoughts and deeds to her priest in Montana in the past, she wasn't looking forward to having her first confession with her new Charming priest focus on her attraction to the biker. Her own guilt about it was bad enough, without adding the humiliation of confessing it. But it had to be done. Caroline had been Catholic since her christening, had never given much thought to it, and would no sooner have stopped confessing than stopped brushing her teeth.

"You must be cautious, my child," the priest replied. "Impure thoughts can lead to impure deeds."

Caroline groaned internally. She had very much been hoping this new priest would be of the same "listen, give penance, and get done" school as the one in Montana, but he was looking to be more of the ilk of the priests to whom she'd confessed while in Bozeman in college. The ones who wanted to talk about it. "Yes, Father," she replied.

"When these thoughts intrude, you must turn your mind to Our Lord," the priest continued. "Turn away from Satan when he tempts your body or your heart."

Unable to help herself, Caroline pictured the reaper patch on the back of all of the Sons' cuts. Certainly, if it had been Satan who was tempting her when Happy pushed against her in her truck cab, he hadn't been doing much to hide himself. "I will turn away from him, Father," she replied, hoping her acquiescence would end the conversation. In truth, she'd spent as much time over the past week wishing she hadn't stopped Happy's hands as wishing she had stopped him sooner. More, maybe. The wrongness of the idea—the horror of imagining giving her body so cheaply to a biker she didn't know in her truck cab, in a public parking lot—only made it more enticing. Though she hoped otherwise, Caroline suspected that no number of prayers was going to take that enticement away.

As the priest spelled out her penance, Caroline barely paid attention. The confessional had started to seem far too small and she was anxious to leave it. It wasn't until she had completed her rosaries and was out of the church completely and crossing the parking lot towards her truck that she began to breathe easy again.

-0-

Chibs smiled when he saw the international calling code come up on his phone. In the nearly sixteen months since the Sons' return from Belfast, Fiona had been true to her word—either she or Kerrianne called regularly. Though his relationship with his daughter was building slowly, it was building, and his family felt closer than it ever had before.

As it turned out, though, this call was not a completely friendly one. Fi's voice was much colder than he'd gotten used to. "You promised Kerrianne you'd visit at least once a year, Filip," she said. "It's been far longer than that."

"I know, Fi, and I'll come. I've just had my hands full 'ere with the boys away an' all."

"They're out now."

"They are, but…" Chibs trailed off. He knew nothing he could explain was going to be a good excuse not to make the trip back to Ireland. And, in truth, he wanted to go. He wanted to see his daughter, of course, and he also missed Fi. Though he'd never expected it to happen again, they'd been together when he was in Belfast. Maybe it was just the excitement and fear, but she'd surrendered her body to him in a way that had existed only in his memory for over a decade. Though she'd been distant afterwards, he thought about it often and definitely wouldn't mind a replay. It made no difference how many young, silicone-enhanced porn stars he got into his bed; there was nobody like his Fiona.

"But nothing, Filip." The anger in Fi's voice jostled Chibs out of his brief foray into memory. "You want your daughter to trust you? Then be good on your word." Listening to her, Chibs could picture her pursed lips and drawn brow.

"You're right," he said. "It's time I'm seein' my girls." Though he wasn't at all looking forward to explaining to Clay why now would be a good time for a trip across the pond, Chibs knew Fiona was right—he had promised Kerrianne he'd visit, and he'd already stayed away longer than he'd intended to. "I miss Kerrianne…and her ma."

On the other end of the line, Fiona laughed. "You're incorrigible." She sounded pleased, though. "When will you come?"

-0-

It turned out not to be so hard to get away as Chibs had expected. He'd taken the pussy way out and broached the subject at Church, to the entire Club, rather than talking to Clay about it one-on-one, but it hadn't really been necessary. All of his brothers were in favor of him going, promising they could handle things without him for a while. It made Chibs a bit nervous—Clay being so willing to lose a man with so much going down didn't make complete sense—but he decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Within a week, Chibs' travel plans were set. On the lookout for a reason to get everybody together, Gemma decided to have a family dinner the night before he left. Everybody was happy to be back around Gemma's table, and dinner stretched long, with much lingering over coffee, liberally laced with whiskey, and dessert. Opie and Lyla's kids were allowed to pile onto Clay and Gemma's bed and watch a movie, Abel slept soundly on the sofa, and Thomas slept in Tara's arms.

"So, how long you gonna be gone?" Juice asked.

"Don't know. Have to see how it goes…" Chibs hadn't yet made return plans, as he wanted to see how things shook out with his girls, as well as how SAMBEL had fared losing their president and sergeant-at-arms. He looked at Clay. "And if you need me here, make a phone call and I'll be on the next plane."

Clay nodded, his teeth gripping his cigar. "It's good you're goin'," he said. "We could use eyes on SAMBEL." In mixed company, Clay didn't go into why he was concerned about SAMBEL's allegiances, but the group all knew—it could be that their Irish brothers didn't appreciate being all but cut out of their gun business.

"I'm sure your daughter is excited to see you," Tara said, trying, as she tended to do lately, to steer the conversation clear from anything that could bring up Club-related tensions.

Chibs smiled. "Aye, doc." Though he tried to hide it, he was so looking forward to seeing Kerrianne again, under less stressful circumstances, that he'd begun to have trouble keeping it to himself.

"She's such a lovely girl," Gemma purred, exhaling smoke from her cigarette and ignoring Tara's glare and protective movement to shield the baby. "Almost grown up already."

Across from Chibs, Tig grinned. "Speaking of teenagers," he said slowly, "who's gonna take first push on that redheaded piece while you're out of the picture?"

Around the table, the men all laughed. Chibs shook his head. Caroline had crossed his mind a few times since Fiona's last call, but only a few. Much as he'd love to take a crack at her, that desire was nothing in comparison to the way he'd always felt about Fi. Before he could think of a smart-ass reply, though, Gemma broke in. "Don't think any of you are gonna have much luck with Sister Caroline," she said. "Took Wayne to his support group this week, and who was at St. Michael's but the redheaded tart, prayin' her rosary." She smiled meanly. "Apparently, she's already got a man—Jesus."

Chibs lifted an eyebrow. "Sweet Caroline is a good Catholic? Never would have guessed that." Feeling content and unable to stop himself from taking a good-natured jab, he looked at Happy. "That might explain it, brother."

Happy smiled back, wolfish, both friendly and threatening. "Makes it worth the challenge is all," he said. "I decide I want at piece of that, no fuckin' Church gonna stop me."

Chibs raised his eyebrows. "Gonna give it another try, then?" He shook his head. "Poor lass won't have me to dry her cryin' eyes after she shuts you down next time."

Happy shrugged non-committally. "Thought about it. Probably not worth the effort."

Gemma rolled her eyes and pushed away from the table. "Two of you are like high school boys in a goddamn locker room. Gonna make a bet now on who can spread baby Caroline's legs first?"

Happy and Chibs looked at one another. In truth, neither of them had been considering a wager, but now that Gemma mentioned it, it wasn't the worst idea. Slowly, Happy nodded. Maybe it shouldn't have bothered him, but Caroline's rejection in the parking lot was still stuck in his craw. "I'll have that uptight gash before you get back," he said. "It'll do her some good."


End file.
